Elemental Craft
by shining-friendshipangel
Summary: This story and or book, it isn't finished yet, is about three teenage siblings with elemental powers that must go to a school in America to learn how to control them. Along the way they have to worry about dark forces attacking them.


**Elemental Craft**

**By: Carolyn Beck**

Chapter One

Three teenage siblings walk down to the kitchen, where their parents are waiting. There is one girl, a young woman really, and two boys. Isis is the oldest at 18, with flaming red hair and glowing jade green eyes. She is the firstborn child that has inherited the elemental power of Fire, and is tall as well as thin. Currently she is wearing a blue T-shirt emblazoned with a green four-leaf clover and slightly baggy blue jeans.

"I wonder what Mom and Dad want," she said.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with all the weird things that have been happening to us lately," said one brother.

"Maybe, Jackson. Maybe," murmured Isis.

Jackson thinks about what their parents want. He is fifteen years old with a medium build. His brownish-black hair is pulled back into a ponytail, away from his hazel eyes. He is the middle child and inherited the elemental power of Earth. At the moment, he is wearing a baggy hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans.

Nicholas, the goofy one, stares at the floor while walking. He's the youngest one in the family at thirteen, and the shyest, which explains why he hasn't spoken aloud yet. He has a slightly stocky build that makes him a little self-conscious. His blue hair is cut into a Mohawk, and also has blue eyes. Right now he is wearing a gray T-shirt and black leather pants with a black hat on backwards. His inherited elemental power is Water.

While they walk down to the kitchen, their parents are talking quietly.

"I don't know what I am going to do. They are growing up so fast. If they leave, I will miss them terribly," says Mrs. Joyce Wigett.

Mr. Jim Wigett is nodding and about to respond, but breaks off as their children enter the kitchen. The teens look from their mother to their father.

"What's going on Dad?" asked Isis, looking puzzled, as they sat down at the table with their parents.

"We wanted to discuss this Elemental Craft School with you three," says their father, "We know that things have been different and difficult for you guys lately."

"You could say that again," muttered Nicholas to himself.

"If you go to the Elemental Craft, you will learn how to control your main element, as well as learn how to control the other two elements also," said Mr. Wigett. "We were just talking about if you three want to go."

"Maybe we should," says Isis, "I mean, we could really harm someone if our powers get out of hand."

"And we don't want that to happen. It could be you that we hurt," pipes up Jackson.

"Are you three absolutely sure that you want to go?" inquired their father.

"Yes Dad," replies Isis, "We need to control the power that we have. Why are you asking?"

"Just looking out for you guys," says Dad, "Elemental Craft is located in America."

Finally Nicholas speaks up for everyone to hear.

"Yeah well, we can't help that," spoke Nicholas, "It's like Isis said. We need to control our elements, or we can't pay the price for what might happen if we don't."

Isis looks around at her brothers, father, and mother. Her brothers nod to answer the question burning in her eyes. Mrs. Wigett looks around the kitchen table at her children, and tears fill her eyes as she smiles proudly.

"Aw, don't cry Momma," chorused her children.

"Yeah, we'll write to you lots, and visit you as soon as possible!" exclaimed Nicholas.

"I know, but this is the first time that you will be leaving the house and Ireland for long periods of time. You'll be at the school for at least three years with only the Christmas and Easter holidays to visit," replies their mother.

Isis, Jackson, and Nicholas all sigh, while thinking that their mother was right. All three know how much they would miss their family and friends. While they were all talking and thinking, three letters from Elemental Craft magically appear on the table. The teens stare at the symbol on the envelopes, and then grab the letter addressed to them. After each had gotten their letter, there is complete silence as they open and read them.

Isis scans through her letter and says, "I'm in the Fire dorm, how interesting."

"Hey! No fair!" exclaims Jackson "I wanted to be in the Fire dorm. Instead I am stuck in the dumb Earth dorm. Man this stinks. Why do you get to have all the fun?"

"Yeah! I'm in the Water dorm! This rocks dude!" said Nicholas. "I guess they go by age. Think about it man! Isis is the oldest and she is in the Fire dorm. Jackson, as the middle child, is in the Earth dorm."

Isis starts thinking about what he said. Jackson on the other hand, dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand, while Nicholas nods his head sure that he is correct in his theory. The parents just sit looking at their kids while they try to figure it out.

Isis looks at Nicholas. "I don't know if that is true Nick. There is no way to tell or even research the school. There isn't even any information on the internet," she said, as Nicholas looks crestfallen.

"Yeah, little bro, I don't think there are any other siblings there, and if there were they might place them in the dorm most suited for them. This is an interesting predicament that they have though," replied Jackson.

Mr. Wigett glances at his kids and thinks of something to ask.

"What kind of powers do you three have? There must be some reason why they put you in the dorms that you are set in," said their father.

"Well, I can do a couple of different things. Basically, I throw fire and melt things," said Isis.

"I can sometimes cause earthquakes and rock slides, but not all the time," piped up Jackson.

"Sometimes I cause floods, storms, and hurricanes although I don't think I have caused them here," said Nicholas.

The other two siblings look at him and roll their eyes. Little did they know that their powers are the strongest on the planet. Other people with the same elemental powers feel what happens with and to the Wigett teens. Meanwhile, Isis is beginning to realize something else pertaining to all three of them.

"This is something that I just now figured out. We all have part of all the elemental powers inside us, as well as our own main element. Haven't you felt it before now?" she said.

"What?! I didn't know that. Interesting though," said both brothers.

"At least it's an advantage. No one would know that we could use all three elements. It would help in a tight spot," said Isis, "so it helps us a lot."

Their father watches and listens to his children talk.

"Well, it seems you were put in the right dorms after all. They went by your main element is my guess," said Dad.

"What we don't know is if they really meant to divide us up like that though," muttered Nicholas.

The other two look at each other and nod in agreement to what their brother said. Their parents aren't sure what to think.

"That's true enough Nick, but there isn't much more information in your letters," said Mom.

All three glance back at their letters again as Nicholas says, "It doesn't say much other than the dorms we are going to be in."

"Who knows, maybe they will teach us how to use our element as armor!" exclaims Jackson, his eyes lighting up as he spoke.

Mrs. Wigett looks at the clock and is surprised at the time, for it was past midnight.

"You guys should go upstairs to bed. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very busy day," says Mrs. Wigett.

The teens head upstairs with many mutterings.

"Why must they insist on treating us like children?" asks Isis "I mean we're teenagers. We should be able to choose when we get to go to bed."

"They are just looking out for us. As mom said tomorrow is more than likely going to be busy, considering the fact that we leave to go to Elemental Craft the day after tomorrow," explains Jackson.

"True, but I think we should have our own meeting though. There's too much riding on this to make a hasty decision," said Nicholas.

"Since when did you become so serious?" teased Jackson.

"Since I learned that we would be leaving the only home that we have ever known," he said hotly.

"Okay you guys, let's not fight," she said, "Let's just get our little meeting over with and go to bed."

"Whose room should we use for our little meeting?" asked Jackson.

"How about my room?" said Isis, "It's close enough and big enough to suit our little get together."

The two brothers look at each other, and nod.

"Okay. Lead on, sis," they said.

They arrived at Isis' bedroom door. Once the door was opened, they went inside to sit down. As Isis moves to sit at her computer desk, Jackson decides to sit on the bed, and Nicholas sits on the windowsill. Both brothers look at their sister, waiting for her to speak.

"How to start… okay, the only things that we know for sure about the school is when it starts, where it is, and what dorm we are going to be in," said Isis.

"Don't forget the fact that they will teach us how to control our elements," added Jackson.

Isis thinks about that, and looks at the letter she brought upstairs with her. "You're right. I forgot about that detail."

She turns to her laptop and starts making a list of things that they know for sure. The brothers listen to her typing away, and think of what else they knew.

"Now what do we do?" asks Nicholas.

"Now we try to figure out if going is really the right thing to do. I know I told Dad that we would go, but that was before I knew that it would mean leaving Ireland. Plus, I should have let you two have a say in the matter," said Isis.

"Well, we trust the decisions that you make, seeing as how you are the oldest. You also know what you want and need, more than Nicholas and I do, any way," said Jackson.

"Yeah, you know more, but we appreciate the thought," said Nicholas.

"Maybe we should take it to a vote. Majority rules," she said, "So, who's for going to the school?"

"I am, but I am going to miss this country," said Jackson.

"I'm in as well. It would be interesting to learn about our powers," said Nicholas.

"I guess it's going to be unanimous. I also want to go, not only to learn about our powers, but to see a new country," said Isis.

"So it's settled? We are going to Elemental Craft?" asked Nicholas.

"Yes, Nick, we are," she said.

"We need to go to bed now, tomorrow is going to be busy," says Jackson.

Jackson and Nicholas both head to their room, and change to go to sleep for the night. Meanwhile, Isis is still at her computer looking for information on America. She doesn't find much and decides to head to bed as well. Later on their parents check on their children and see that they are fast asleep.

A few hours later, their mother wakes them up to start the day.

"It's time to get up kids. Breakfast is ready and on the table," calls Mrs. Wigett.

The kids are still sleepy as they walk downstairs to the kitchen, not talking. They try to think about what they need to do today, but they are having trouble thinking on so few hours of sleep.

"Man, I wish that I could just go back to sleep. I didn't know that we would be woken up so soon," murmured Jackson.

"We're with you on that count," said the other two.

Their mother sees how sluggish they are, and wonder what they were doing to make them so tired.

"What on earth were you doing? And when did you three go to bed?" asked their mother.

The three look around at each other, and, reading the others' minds, nodded in agreement.

"Well, we had a meeting of our own last night. And we didn't go to bed until after one in the morning," replies Isis.

"What was the meeting about?" inquired Mrs. Wigett.

"We were trying to make absolutely sure that we wanted to go to the school," piped up Nicholas. "It was Isis' idea though. We didn't want to make a hasty decision when it came to the fact that we would be going to a new country."

"And what was your decision?"

"We decided that we should go," they said.

"Okay, what made you question your decision in the first place?" asked their father.

As the kids sit down at the breakfast table, they begin to explain.

"Well, we didn't want to leave you and Mom, but we decided that we should go, like Isis said last night at the kitchen table," said Jackson and Nicholas.

The teens start helping themselves to eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, and orange juice. There is complete silence in the kitchen while everyone is eating their breakfasts.

"So what are we going to do today?" asked Isis.

"We need to make absolutely sure that you three have everything you need before you leave for school. Which means that we need to do some shopping," said their parents.

Jackson helps himself to another sausage and says "Is that all we are going to do today? If so, then I would like to go back to sleep."

"In case you have forgotten, we leave tomorrow morning, which means that we need to pack and that might take the whole afternoon. Then we have to say our goodbyes tomorrow before we leave," said Isis.

Nicholas starts wondering about something. "How are we going to get there?" he asked.

"I think that we are flying over there, or maybe riding a train," said Isis.

She checks the letter that she kept with her for the details, and finds out that they would indeed be flying out to America.

Nicholas looks over his sister's shoulder to read her letter and said aloud, "It looks like they are going to send a plane and fly us there."

"Would you please quit reading over my shoulder, little bro?" said Isis, starting to get irritated.

"Sorry, sis," Nicholas said sheepishly.

"Let's get the shopping done now. It's more than likely going to take you all afternoon to pack your belongings," said their father.

"Okay, we'll go up and get ready for the day," they said.

As they spoke, their mother starts to clear the breakfast table. The teens head upstairs to change out of their pajamas. As they are walking up, Nicholas starts playing little jokes on his older siblings.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing?" asked Isis and Nicholas flips her long hair over her face.

"Just my way of dealing with nerves," Nicholas said.

"Why on earth are you nervous? You don't have anything to be nervous about," said Jackson.

"Yeah I do," Nicholas says as he tugs on Jackson's ponytail. "This whole thing is scaring me a bit."

Jackson punches Nicholas to get him to stop tugging on his ponytail. Isis looks over at her siblings and sees the beginnings of a fight.

"You both need to get a life. Seriously, can't you go one day without fighting each other?" asks Isis as she steps in between them.

Nicholas grins as he replies, "Nope. We like keeping you on your toes."

"Well, cut it out you guys. It's starting to annoy me," she grumbles.

"But you gotta love us anyway, 'cause we're family," said Jackson.

Just as Jackson finished speaking, their mother yells, "What's taking you three so long? Get ready and come downstairs. We are leaving in fifteen minutes."

The teens yell back, "Okay, Mom."

"Listen, we need to get ready now. Don't forget that tomorrow is October first and that is also the first day of school," said Isis. "Come on, let's go."

They finish getting ready and head back downstairs. As the five of them leave the house, three of the neighbors call out to the teens.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" called out Mr. Rudolph.

"We are going shopping, and then we leave to go to school in America," they said.

"Really? When do you leave?" inquired Mrs. Jameson.

"Tomorrow morning," said Isis.

"Then you are cutting it very close. How long are you going to be in America?" spoke Joey Moto.

"Aye, we know. The schooling will take three years, maybe more," said Jackson.

"See you guys later," said the teens at the same time.

The neighbors watch the Wigett family leave. As it is, they have been sent to protect the teens and help them to control their elements. What the teens don't know is that they are the first ones in their family since their great-great-grandparents to have elemental powers. To the extent of controlling their elements, the three neighbors that just spoke to them had to cast a power-controlling spell, seeing as the teens have too much power all at once. The main reason why they were sent to protect the Wigett family is because there was information that dark ninja were after the most powerful elemental people.

"We need to make absolutely sure that no harm comes to them," said Joey as they watch the family disappear from view. The other two nod in agreement.

Isis, as usual, is thinking and asks her mom a question, "Mom, are our powers rare in the family?"

"They might be, because you great-grandparents, grandparents, and your father and I don't have any elemental powers at all," she replies.

The teens stop walking and look at each other. Then, as they start walking again, Isis starts playing with her braid as she thinks. Jackson picks up his speed to walk with their father in silence, as Nicholas starts joking around again to deal with his nerves. As he tugs on his older siblings' hair, they both turn around and give him a dirty look.

"Dude, quit doing that!" they exclaim.

"Sorry," he said. "I just want something to do. I have all this nervous energy. This whole thing is starting to bug me."

"Then why don't you try walking faster? That should keep you from pulling our hair," said Isis.

Nicholas pulls a face and starts walking faster to keep from getting annoyed. Then he asks, "How are we going to get our entire stuff home after shopping? Taxi?" he added hopefully.

"No, we aren't going to be buying a lot, just some stuff to hold you over until you come home at Christmas," replies their father.

"Oh, okay. But what are we going to do if we forget something? It would become very expensive if you have to keep sending us packages if we did forget something," said their children.

"That's true kids. I guess we just have to make sure that you remember everything," said their mother.

The kids nod in agreement to what their mother said. After all, it made sense. As they continue walking, Isis starts humming to an old Irish song, and the rest of the family joins in.

Nicholas interrupts with a question. "What are we going to do after we finish shopping? Other than going home, I mean," he said.

"Well, we might go out to eat afterwards and then go home so that you can pack," replies their father.

"Cool!" exclaimed the teens. Eating out is a rare treat and occurrence with this family indeed. As they arrive at the store, they split up into two groups. Isis and her mom went in one direction, and her brothers and their dad going in the opposite direction.

"What are we going to get first, Mom?" asked Isis.

"First thing is school supplies. I have a feeling that you are really going to need them," she said.

"You're probably right about that, since you aren't wrong about much," replies her daughter.

Meanwhile, the guys went to the other of the store to go shopping for clothes. As usual, when the two younger siblings are together, they start getting a bit hyper, and they start running around the store with their father yelling after them to behave. Mr. Wigett should have expected that Jackson and Nicholas wouldn't listen as they start playing a game of tag in the store with other people. As they head toward the other end of the store, Isis senses how childish they are acting and, before she sees them physically, mind-speaks, _Grow up you two!_

They reply in the same way saying: _Sorry, but we just can't help it. We're excited about tomorrow, what with school starting and everything._

Isis mind-speaks back saying: _ Yeah I know, but that's no reason to act the way you are right now. I am just as excited as you, and add on the fact that none of us have ever flown before. Can you guys wait until we get home to act goofy?_

The brothers don't respond to her question, and she sighs. While the three of them had been mind speaking to each other, their mother looks over at her daughter and wonders what is going on because she is looking tense and slightly irritated.

"What's wrong, Isis?" spoke her mother.

"Oh, not much, just Jackson and Nicholas acting like complete idiots," replies Isis angrily, with her hair flaring out with anger as she spoke.

"Calm down. There is nothing to be angry about. They are just blowing off some steam. Remember that your father is with them," said Mrs. Wigett.

Isis takes a deep breath and blows it out. "You're right, Mom. It just bothers me that they are acting so immature and that I am the only one out of the three of us acting their age," she says.

"Sometimes you just need to relax a little. The reason why you are so tense is because you take on too much responsibility and are acting older than you really are," said her mother.

Isis stifles a yawn with her hand. "Okay, I get what you are saying, Mom. I'll try to relax some," she said. As she was talking with her mother, the brothers started calming down some from the sensing of Isis' emotions.

_Okay, Sis, _they mind-spoke, _we'll behave until we get home._

She replies back, _Thanks bros._

As they continue shopping, Isis starts relaxing more. After a while they switch the areas they were in, Mr. Wigett and his sons start shopping for their school supplies while Isis and her mother go shopping for some new clothes. Isis starts rolling her eyes at the clothes that her mother has started pulling of the racks for her daughter to try on.

"Mom, haven't you realized the style of clothing that I prefer and wear?" she asked. "In case you haven't, I'm not that into girlie clothes, especially those skirts that you have in your arms. Plus, I don't think that it would be part of the dress code for the classes I will be taking."

Her mother makes a face towards her daughter. "You shouldn't wear that make you look like a boy," says a slightly irritated Mrs. Wigett. "Maybe we could compromise on the clothing that you take with you. Instead of skirts or dresses, how about dress slacks and nice blouses? Who knows, you might need and want to take some dressy clothes with you."

Isis grimaces and replies, "You might be right Mom, but I don't like it one bit. I accept the terms of the compromise. Just so that you know for future shopping trips, I prefer being comfortable to being girly. You should know that better than anyone, especially even better than my brothers."

Shortly afterwards, Isis took some dress slacks and blouses into a changing room. As she walks out with one of the outfits on, her mother nods in approval to the choices. Finally, Isis thought, now I can get out of here.

"May we leave now, Mom?" Isis asked. "We are going to have a lot of packing to do, and it's already the middle of the afternoon. And we were going to get something to eat on the way home."

"Okay, let's find your father and brothers, and then we will leave," said her mother. "We'll decide where to eat when we get back together." So after saying so, mother and daughter head for the check out lanes.

_Jackson,_ Isis mind-spoke,_ where are you guys at?_

_We are in check out lane three, Sis,_ replied Jackson.

_Thanks bro, _she replies back. After finding out where the others are located, she tells her mother that they are in check out lane three. Mrs. Wigett nods and follows her daughter to the rest of the family. As the five of them meet at the check out lane, the teens grin at each other and start acting goofy. The parents look at them and smile as they roll their eyes. The expression on their faces saying plainly, it looks like Isis finally learned to relax. After paying for their items, the family walks out into the bright afternoon sunshine.

"Finally, we're out!" exclaimed the teens as the start chasing after one another.

"Calm down you three!" shouted their father. "Let's go eat and then go home to get you guys packed for tomorrow."

"Okay Dad," yelled the teens. They ran back to their parents, grab the shopping bags, and start running after each other again. The parents walk after them shaking their heads at their children's crazy behavior in public.

"At least they had the manners to take the shopping bags that we were carrying with them," quipped their father.

"True enough, honey, true enough," chuckled their mother. She continues watching her children while walking with her husband. The teens look back at their parents, and, seeing them arm-in-arm, start rolling their eyes.

"So, where are we going to eat at?" asked Nicholas as his stomach rumbles loudly. Jackson and Isis start laughing at Nicholas's stomach rumbling, but quiet down after hearing their own stomachs growling just as loudly as their brother's.

"I guess we should get something to eat then," Isis said sheepishly.

"Yeah, unless you want to hear our stomachs rumbling all afternoon," agreed Jackson.

"Well, we don't want that now, do we? Let's go to the nearest pub and get some fish'n'chips," said Mr. Wigett. The rest of the family nods in agreement to what he said.

"Sounds good!" exclaims the teens.

"Then let's get some food into you three," said their mother. The kids nod in agreement and follow their parents into a nearby old fashioned Irish pub. As they walk into the pub, neighbors and friends wave to the Wigett family. They wave back at them as they sit down at a table not very far from the bar.

"Hey you guys. What will ya'll have to drink today?" asked Josie, their waitress.

"We'll all have some Coke and fish'n'chips each, Josie. Thanks," said Mr. Wigett.

"Alright. We'll have your orders out to you soon," she said, and smiled at the family as she walked to the kitchens to place their orders. In a short amount of time, she brought out their orders of Coke and fish'n'chips, and set them in front of each family member.

"So, what is the special occasion that brings you to us today? Is it someone's birthday?" asks Josie, looking around at the family.

"No, we are going to Elemental Craft tomorrow, and it's located in America," Isis explains.

Their waitress starts getting curious about what Isis had just said and asks, "What is Elemental Craft?"

"Elemental Craft is a special school for people who have elemental powers and teaches them how to control their powers," said Jackson.

"Yeah, and we just found out about the school last night," remarked Nicholas.

"Well, you certainly know a lot already. So I take it that you three have some elemental powers each?" commented Josie.

"We sure do. Isis's element is Fire, Jackson's is Earth, and mine is Water," Nicholas briefly explains.

"Interesting," Josie says, "well, enjoy your food." So saying, she walks away to check on her other customers. While she walks around the bar the family digs into their food, especially the hungry teens.

"Ahh, this food is hitting the spot!" chorused the teens. "Thanks Mom and Dad."

"Your welcome, kids," replied their parents. They start smiling at their children while they continue eating. Nicholas almost says something with his mouth full, but his parents give him a look that plainly says, "Don't even think about it kiddo." He closes his mouth and swallows his mouthful of food.

"Sorry about that Mom and Dad," he says after swallowing. "Now I forget what I was going to say." After saying so, he grins at his siblings, and as they grin back they roll their eyes. As usual for today, the teens start acting goofy again. At least they aren't throwing food at each other, their parents thought, not that there is any food left on their plates.

"I think we are about ready to go home now," Isis said. "We need to get busy packing our belongings for tomorrow."

"Okay, just let your father and I take care of the bill. We'll meet you three outside," said Mrs. Wigett.

"Alright, Mom," the teens said together. Then they ran outside with their stomachs finally full. After a few minutes their parents came outside to find them running around chasing each other.

"Kids, quit chasing one another and let's go home," called their father. The kids nod and go to their parents, and head home to start packing for tomorrow. Remarkably it doesn't take them nearly as long as it did to get home from the pub as it did for them when they left to go shopping, although it might have something to do with the pub being on the way home.

When they arrive home, their mother says, "In a while I will make your favorite dinner. Meanwhile, I want you three to go upstairs and start packing all of your things that you think you will need." In response to what their mother had just said, the teens run up and give her a big hug together. She hugs her children back, and signals for them to go up and start packing. They nod at her and start running up the stairs with their purchases.

"I think we had better hurry, but make sure that you remember everything. We don't want to make it cost a lot for Mom and Dad if we forget anything," Isis said, back in control and a bit tense.

"Okay, Sis, calm down," replies her brothers. "You need to relax a bit. We'll try to remember everything. Maybe we could check each other's bags and trunks to make sure that we have everything in place."

"That's good idea you two. It will help us out a lot," Isis remarked. "Now let's go to our rooms and start packing before supper."

"Okay," Jackson says, as they split up in the hallway upstairs. The next four hours there is a flurry of motion in both of their bedrooms. The teens started throwing things into their bags and trunks in a hurry, because they only have the one night to take care of everything. Their mother comes upstairs to tell the teens that supper is almost ready, but is shocked speechless when she sees how her children are packing their belongings.

She shakes her head to clear it and says, "What do you three think you are doing?! You don't jus throw your things into your bags like that. Take everything out and repack them correctly. By the way, supper is almost done. Come downstairs when you are ready." After talking with her children, she walks downstairs to the kitchen where her husband is waiting, shaking her head all the while. Her husband sees his wife shaking her head, and wonders what those crazy kids are doing this time.

"What are those dear children of ours doing this time to make you shake your head like that?" inquired Jim.

"Oh, nothing much, just that the kids are throwing their things around to get all of them into their bags and trunks," replied Joyce.

Jim starts laughing loudly when he hears this. "Yeah, that sounds like them, but we have to remember that they didn't have much warning to pack their things. They may also be trying to save us money by trying to remember everything so that we won't have to send their things to them," he replies to his wife, still laughing loudly.

"I guess we are very lucky to have them. They are very thoughtful to try and save us money, although they don't have to," she remarks, "Quit laughing, I think the kids are coming down the stairs." As soon as she says that the teens troop into the kitchen for dinner. Seeing that the table isn't set yet, the kids grab plates, forks, and knives and they start setting the table for their parents. While they are setting the table their mother starts putting the food onto the table. Finally, the family sits down around the table and starts passing the food around to everyone else after they help themselves. There isn't much talking at first, because of having worked hard and running around worked up an appetite for the teens.

"Thanks for fixing our favorite meal, Mom," said Isis on behalf of her siblings. Jackson and Nicholas, who are forking up pot roast like crazy, nod in agreement and thanks to their mother too.

"You're welcome kids. I just wanted to make sure that this dinner was special for you," said Mrs. Wigett. "Obviously it was. I am glad to see that you are enjoying it."

"We're really going to miss your cooking while we are at school, Mom," Nicholas says as he mixes his mashed potatoes with his macaroni and cheese. Isis and Jackson both make a face and start shaking their heads at what Nicholas is doing with his food.

"Little bro, quit playing with your food if you aren't going to eat the rest of it," patronizes Isis. Nicholas is about to retort when his sister shakes her head to warn him not to talk.

"That's enough bickering you two," their father says. "We will send you each a care package on your birthdays. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," chorused the teens, "Plus we have the Christmas and Easter holidays to look forward to so that we can come home and visit."

Mrs. Wigett looks at her watch and sees that it is almost nine o'clock. "You guys need to repack everything, and this time do it properly. That means no throwing things into your luggage," she said while looking around the table at her children, "and you three might want to go to bed early tonight, because tomorrow is going to be very busy."

"Whatever, Mom," the teens remark, "we will try not to stay up too late, but we can't guarantee you anything. We don't think will after staying up so late last night." After that the teens sat with their parents at the kitchen table for another fifteen to twenty minutes before going back upstairs to repack everything properly. A couple of hours later, Jackson and Nicholas finish their packing and decide to go to bed while Isis stays awake for another hour or so making sure that she has everything that she needs for the school. Then, after making sure that everything was packed and her laptop computer in its case, does she finally decide to go to bed. It isn't easy for them to fall asleep because the teens are excited about going to America and school the very next day.

Later on, their parents look in on them, and the teens pretend to be asleep, but the thing is that their parents aren't fooled so easily, so they bring each teen a cup of hot chocolate to help them fall asleep. The kids thank them, drink their hot chocolate, and finally they fall asleep around midnight. Nicholas, who has a history of sleep-walking, sleep-walks into the kitchen and goes through the motions of pouring a bowl of cereal, their parents hear the noises being made and wake up. As they get up to leave the room, Jim grabs a bat in case there was an intruder, but as they walk down into the kitchen, they find Nicholas waking up slowly.

He stares at his parents, almost dropping the milk, and then switches his gaze to the bat that his father is holding with his eyes widening. "Uh, Dad, what is that bat for?" he asks with his voice shaking slightly. This time he really does drop the milk jug on the floor, with the milk spilling all over. His mother grabs a dish towel and begins mopping up the spilled milk, while his father puts down the bat.

"It's okay, son. I didn't know if there was an intruder or not, that's why I grabbed the bat," his father says comfortingly. "We forgot that you sometimes sleep-walk. Maybe whenever you are at home we tie a bell to your wrist so that we know it's you. Who knows, the bell might even wake you up to stop the sleep-walking."

"Ha ha, very funny, Dad," Nicholas says. "At least I know that you aren't going to hit me with that bat. I guess I had better go back upstairs to bed." His parent nod and, as Nicholas says good night, starts walking back upstairs to the room that he shares with Jackson.

Jackson wakes up as Nicholas walks back into the room. "Where did you go little bro?" he asks, still half-asleep. Jackson sits up to look at his brother while they are talking.

"I was sleep-walking in the kitchen, and I was dreaming that I was making a bowl of cereal. Mom and Dad came into the kitchen while I was still asleep, and when I woke up I saw Dad with a baseball bat," Nicholas explains. Jackson shakes his head at what he is hearing.

"Why did Dad have a baseball bat?" Jackson asks as he continues shaking his head. "And why were you sleep-walking? Are you just really excited about tomorrow?"

"I suppose so, because I don't think that I sleep-walk that much. Thing is that Mom and Dad said that we should tie a bell to my wrist so that they know it's me and that it might wake me up. Dad said that the reason why he had the bat was because he didn't know if there was an intruder or not," Nicholas says as he starts yawning.

"Alright, we'll figure out why you were sleep-walking tomorrow on the way to school. For now, let's just go back to sleep," says Jackson as he lies back down.

"I think I will go back to bed. I was planning on it anyway," Nicholas replies.

"Good," says his older brother, as he rolls over and falls back to sleep. It takes Nicholas a little bit longer, but eventually he falls back to sleep at around five o'clock in the morning. After a few more hours of sleep the parents begin to wake up their children so that they could get ready for the trip to school.

"Time to get up kids," says their mother as she gently shakes her children awake. They move groggily at first because they have just woken up and also because of the bright sunshine pouring into their rooms. As the teens are getting dressed for the day, their mother is busy in the kitchen making them snacks for the flight and fixing breakfast for the whole family. Later on the teens troop downstairs with their luggage clunking down after them. They finish bringing down their things and sit down around the dining room table. As the kids are too excited to eat at the moment, they help themselves to orange juice and milk. While Mrs. Wigett and the teens are in the house, their father is busy loading the teens' luggage into the van that one of their friends is letting them borrow for the day.

"Why couldn't we take our regular car?" Nicholas asks.

"There wouldn't be enough room for all of us with the luggage that you three packed," their father replies after he walks back inside from loading the van up. As he sits down at the table with his kids, his wife sets down a hot breakfast in front of him. He smiles with appreciation at his wife as he digs into the food set in front of him.

"Oh, okay," his youngest son says, and then quiets down. Their mother listens to them talking as she continues to pack things for the teens to eat and drink later.

"Come on you three. It's time to leave for the airport," calls their mother because the kids had wandered off somewhere in the house. As they start gathering around the van, their parents' eyes fill with tears as they watch their teens and smile proudly at them. The teens climb into the van before their parents could tell them to. While their father is driving, the teens are silent and thinking about what is waiting for them at school in America.

"For once they don't have anything to say," quipped their parents. "I guess they are having a lot to think about." The kids hear what their parents are talking about and make face at them through the rearview mirror. All of a sudden all five of them start cracking up laughing and joking around. As they approach the airport, the family quits joking around. Brother and sister give each other looks conveying that they don't want to leave their parents now that it is time for them to depart for America.

"Come on kids," says their mother, a bit teary eyed. "It's time for you to catch your plane." Then she gathers her children into a hug because all three of them were crying. Mr. Wigett walks over and ruffles his sons' hair, and then gives his daughter a bear hug.

"It's okay kids, remember that you are going to be coming home in a few months, so there is really no reason to be crying. We'll both miss you a lot until then, but like Nicholas said, we will write to you three often," their father says to comfort them. "Time to go now," their father says gruffly.

Chapter Two

The teens board the plane and look out the window at their parents, tears still pouring down their cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Wigett look up, smiling and waving to their children. Joyce leans back into her husband's arms as they are waving. The kids wave back, stop crying, and wide smiles break out over their faces.

All of a sudden, the three neighbors that the teens talked to before going shopping the other day, walk onto the plane as the teens look at them, then to each other, slightly puzzled.

"What are you three doing here?" the teens ask. Mr. Rudolph, Mrs. Jameson, and Joey look at them and grin.

"You never knew this, but we are teachers at the school that you three are going to be attending," Joey explains. "We were sent to watch and protect you in case the Dark forces came after your powers. So, all of you have been protected since you were born."

The teens' eyes widen at this announcement. Then they start wondering why they had never picked up on it before now. James Rudolph and Trudy Jameson nod in agreement to what Joey had said. Isis shakes her head, hoping to clear it. Jackson and Nicholas look at their sister, hoping that she would counter what they had just heard. She looks at her brothers, grimaces, and they read what was in her eyes as the truth.

"Why weren't we told about this sooner?" Isis asks politely. She and her siblings don't really know what to think about this mess.

"I'm sorry that we didn't tell you three sooner, but we didn't really know that you would be coming to Elemental Craft, or how strong your powers would be," James says. "We thought that we were protecting you if we didn't say anything about it."

"The important thing is that we now know," Jackson replies. "The three of us have some questions about the school and its surroundings. Maybe you could answer them for us."

"Sure," the teachers reply, nodding.

"First off, what's the school like?" Nicholas asks.

"The school is built to look like a castle and palace put together. Each pupil will have their own room, and each room has its own theme," Trudy responds to the question.

Isis's interest is piqued. "Why does every room have a theme? Does it have something to do with kids coming from other continents?" Isis asks with avid curiosity.

Trudy nods at what Isis had just said. "That's correct. Students come from all over the world to learn how to control their powers. For example, if someone came from Japan, his or her room would have a Japanese theme to it. The way the rooms are set up is to help them feel at home while at the school," she says.

"The next question we have we don't know if you can answer for us because it might be rare," Jackson says. "Our powers seem to be linked to each other and our emotions. We each have a main element, true enough, but we also have some of the other two elements in us as well. When the three of us are together our powers get a lot stronger. Why is that?"

James, Joey, and Trudy all look at each other at this bit of news. Never before had they heard of something like this happening.

"How unusual, we have never had that happen, but, then again this is the first time that we have three siblings, each with a different element out of the three that we are teaching at the moment," James ponders aloud. The look on the teens' faces plainly says, "Duh."

"Hey! Don't start acting idiotic," Joey remarks. "You three are different that any of the other students that are going to be attending the school."

"What do you mean, different?" the teens ask with a tinge of surprise in their voices.

"The other students aren't being hunted down by the Dark forces," James says seriously. The kids' mouths fall open upon hearing this.

"What did we ever do to these Dark forces characters?" they ask, a bit frightened.

"That's something we are trying to figure out. The sooner it's figured out, the better for you three. You will be a lot safer," Trudy responds just as seriously as James, "and that is why you can't act idiotic. You need to keep you wits about you, that is the only way that you will survive."

"Oh man, talk about pressure!" exclaims Nicholas.

"Yeah, that means we can no longer act like children, which is what I have been trying to tell the both of you," Isis says to her brothers.

"Your sister is right," Joey says. "It's time to grow up and start acting your age." Nicholas and Jackson make faces at Joey for the comment he had just made. Joey just shakes his head at them without laughing. After they sensed how serious the teachers and their sister are, the brothers stop making faces and try to calm down. Isis nods in agreement with Joey, and also shakes her head at her brothers, ashamed that she is even related to those two knuckleheads.

"Do I need to pound some sense into the both of you guys?" Isis asks incredulously. Her brothers, having a hunch that she would do as she threatens, shake their heads very fast, their eyes wide. She sighs with relief as she says, "Good." Jackson and Nicholas wipe the sweat from their brows after hearing that they weren't going to be pounded. Their sister rolls her eyes at them, and starts walking around the plane, exploring, which doesn't take very long, since it isn't very big.

As Isis is exploring, the pilots climb aboard, and start checking the plane's systems. It's a while before the teens suddenly realize that their parents might still be in the airport, watching to see the plane take off. They approach the windows closest to the airport, hoping to be able to wave at their parents before take off.

Joyce and Jim see their children in the window and wave at them one last time. The teens wave back, and then their parents turn away from the window and start walking back to the borrowed van, while the kids watch them walk away. A few seconds later, one of the pilots opens the cabin door and asks them to sit down and buckle up, because they are about ready to leave for America.

The siblings and teachers nod to the pilot, sit down and then buckle up. Everyone is silent while the plane goes down the runway and takes off. All of a sudden Jackson and Nicholas start acting goofy again. Isis starts glaring at them, but they don't seem to care what she thinks or is doing at the moment. The teachers start shaking their heads laughing at the antics of the two brothers. Instead of yelling at her younger siblings, Isis brings out her laptop and starts playing Solitaire.

"Come on, Isis. You need to have some fun," her brothers coax, "You stay so uptight, and act way too mature almost all of the time." She makes a face at her brothers, knowing that they are right.

"Why are you so uptight, Isis?" Trudy asks.

She thinks for a moment and says, "I guess I am just a bit nervous about school starting." Isis starts grinning sheepishly at the other passengers on the plane with her. Her brothers look at her with surprise and shock.

"You, nervous? That's impossible!" exclaims Jackson. "You've always been the most stable person out of the three of us. What's going on in that head of yours, sis?" He looks at her questionably.

"It's just that it puts a lot of pressure on me. All of my life, everything was perfect in school, and now I don't know what to expect," Isis explains to everyone. She turns back to her laptop, not knowing what else to say. Nicholas and Jackson see how upset their sister is, and walk over to give her a hug.

"We didn't know that you would be nervous about the school starting. It's just hard to believe that you are feeling nervous about everything that's going to happen," Nicholas replies. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"I guess just hope for the best. Sometimes that is all we can do," she says simply. Nicholas and Jackson both nod in agreement to what their sister was saying. After a while, the brothers start staring out of the windows, and then they decide to get something cold to drink. Jackson grabs the bag of food that their mother packed for them, and pulls out a BLT sandwich. His siblings hear the bag being opened, and help themselves to the food and drinks.

"Thank you mom!" exclaims the teens as they start to eat. Suddenly Isis starts laughing for no apparent reason. Everyone is just looking at her, thinking that she has gone completely crazy. They shake their heads as she continues laughing.

"She's lost her mind!" shouts Nicholas.

"There's no need for shouting, Nicholas," Joey calmly says. "I'm sure that your sister will calm down eventually. I just don't know when that will be. Don't be surprised if you two both have a nervous breakdown like your sister is having right now." The brothers look at him incredulously, thinking, "Yeah right! Like that is going to happen." Just as suddenly as Isis started laughing, she quit and sat down.

Everyone else slowly approaches her, making sure that she is not going to crack up again. She looks at them quizzically, because she doesn't remember anything from when she cracked till now.

"Huh, why are you all looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?" Isis inquires. Her hands start shaking out of nerves. She tries to get her nerves under control, but is having a bit of trouble managing it.

Her brothers shake their heads at what they are hearing. "No, you didn't do anything wrong, but you went a little crazy for a while," they respond. Isis's eyes widen when she hears this.

"No way!" she exclaims, "There is no way that I would go crazy. You guys must have hit your heads on something." She starts shaking her head to try and clear it.

"We didn't hit our heads on anything. It's true that you were a little bit crazy, and we didn't know what to do to snap you out of it," her brothers respond. "We are just glad that you snapped out of it on your own." Isis just shrugs her shoulders and looks out the window.

Nicholas starts fidgeting. "How much longer until we are going to arrive there?" he whines. His older siblings blush with embarrassment at Nicholas's behavior.

"Take it easy, Nicholas," Joey says. "It's going to take longer than a couple of hours to get to America. Didn't you guys bring anything to do?"

"Well, I brought my laptop, but I don't think my goofy brothers did," Isis responds slowly. After she said this her brothers look at her, highly affronted.

"We did too bring something to do. We brought a bunch of books to read in case if we got bored annoying you," they say to their sister and the teachers. Their sister raises her eyebrows at what they are saying.

"So you were planning on annoying me the whole flight, huh?" she asks. "Don't count on it now, so you might as well break out some of the books and start reading," Jackson and Nicholas start grumbling about how they just gave up their main idea of entertainment for the flight. After much grumbling, the boys get out a couple of books and start reading.

"Are the classes going to be hard?" Isis asks, a little anxiously.

Trudy looks at her and thinks for a bit before finally replying, "It depends on your definition of hard. If you are a dedicated worker, then, no the classes won't be difficult. However, if you are a slacker, which is the vibe I am getting from your brothers, then the classes will become very difficult indeed." Isis lets out a sigh of relief. The brothers looked over when Trudy said that she was getting the vibe that they were slackers, stuck out their tongues, and look at their sister when she sighs with relief.

"What are you sighing for?" they ask. She looks at them with a funny look on her face. "What? Why are you looking at us like that?"

"Looking at you like what?" she asks, careful to keep her face blank. " I was sighing because I am relieved that the classes might not be as hard as I thought they would. That's helps me out a lot. Now I can relax for the rest of the flight."

"I knew you had nothing to worry about," Jackson says comfortingly. "Out of the three of us, you are easily the smartest. You'll probably be the best out of all the new students."

All of a sudden, Isis loses her peace of mind at what her brother just said. She looks at him horror-stricken. "Don't say that," she says hysterically. "You don't know that for a fact. For all we know, I'm probably the stupidest one there." Nicholas looks over at his sister, alarmed at her reaction.

"Snap out of it sis!" Nicholas exclaims, jumping up from his seat over to his sister. He starts gently shaking her to bring her back down to earth. She pushes her brother's hands away from her shoulders, and tries to calm down.

"Thanks for that, Nicky," Isis says, "I guess I really needed that. Why is it that I am the only one freaking out about this whole thing? And why are you two so calm?"

"Maybe because Jackson and I know how to relax and have fun," the youngest sibling replies, with wisdom beyond his years. "That's why we have been trying to tell you to relax, because if you don't then you are going to completely crack, and we wouldn't be able to help you."

"Yeah, I guess so," she replies a tad bit sheepishly. "I just never thought that my desire to do well in school would make me crack like that."

"Well, sometimes the best people never think things like that would ever happen to them," Jackson says.

"That's true enough, but the thing is that things like that happen to them and everyone else," Nicholas adds on. "So it is completely normal that you didn't know how you would react to the stress of starting at a new school, where you don't know what will happen."

"I know that," Isis responds testily, "I just don't like not knowing what's going to happen with me or you guys."

"Okay, okay, no need to get snippy," her brothers say. "You need to chill, and start acting like yourself again." She just glares at her brothers, wanting to tell them to mind their own stinking business, but decides to keep it to herself. The three of them sit down and relax for the next couple of hours of the flight.

"We are almost to Arizona you guys," James says after an hour or so. The teens raise their heads and look out the windows, not realizing that they had been flying over America for the past couple of hours. As they stare, captivated, the teachers smile at their expressions, remembering what it feels like to leave your hometown for the first time to see the world.

"How much longer till we land?" Isis asks, her legs beginning to fall asleep from the lack of movement and the way she has been sitting. She stands up, trying to get some feeling back into her legs. While trying to walk around the plane, she falls back into a seat from the tingling in her limbs. After sitting back down, she stretches out to become more comfortable.

"Maybe another forty-five minutes," Joey says as he also looks out of the window. "Wow, things really haven't changed at all since we've been gone." He glances out at the land, reminiscing on all the good times he had while in America. He smiles slowly. Okay, he thinks to himself, time to snap out of memory lane.

"Joey, remember that we need to report to the Headmistress when we get there. She wants a full report of what happened while we were in Ireland," James reminds him as he snaps out of his daydream of the past. Joey hears, nods, and sighs. He doesn't want to go with James and Trudy to see the Headmistress, seeing as how he doesn't teach the way she prefers.

"Do we all have to report to her? Why can't you and Trudy go by yourselves, and leave me behind," Joey asks, trying hard not to complain, especially not in front of the kids. Trudy and James both shake their heads at Joey's reaction to the meeting. Every teacher and staff member knows that he doesn't get along to well with the headmistress.

"Yes, we all have to report to her. Did you forget that each of us looked after one of the teens separately? That is why we all have to go, so stop your complaining Joey. You might as well get over the differences between the two of you," Trudy says. "We would all like to be doing something else other than reporting what happened in Ireland, especially when nothing really went wrong or in fact that nothing really happened at all." After hearing this the teens start getting curious about this Headmistress.

"What is the Headmistress like?" Isis asks. Nicholas and Jackson are listening avidly for the reply to their sister's question. The teachers look at each other in surprise, having never had kids listening so intently to what they have to say.

"Well," James starts, "she is very strict at what goes on at the school. So I would suggest being careful on what you do there." The kids nod to what he just said.

- 32 -


End file.
